Exploring the representation of health in videogames: a content analysis.
Early qualitative work has suggested that videogame players see the concept of health as an important part of the gaming interface, but the way health is shown in games is commonly considered to be simplistic. The aim of this study is to explore further ways in which the concept of health is represented in videogames beyond its most common usage in the interface. Ten videogames were analyzed for content in mobility, ability, psychology, social, and pain dimensions by coding 15 minutes of videotaped play. Pain was the category that was overwhelmingly represented in this sample, with the social category the second most common. Further work is needed to explore the impact on play experience.
Brooksby
Alan
A
School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom. a.brooksby@uea.ac.uk
D001294:Attitude to Health; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D011584:Psychology; D012660:Semantics; D018910:Video Games